


#1: Never Give Up

by httpstiles



Series: Steps To A Better Life [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Anxiety Disorder, Canonical Character Death, Character Study, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Stiles, Hurt/Comfort, Ignores Season 3B, M/M, Oblivious Scott, PTSD Stiles, Post season 3a, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, mentions of:, sterek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-15
Updated: 2014-02-15
Packaged: 2018-01-12 11:24:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1185675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/httpstiles/pseuds/httpstiles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can result from any of the following: Kidnapping/Torture, Car Accident/Plane Crash, Military Combat, Rape/Sexual Abuse, Natural Disasters, or even worry over a friend who has experienced a traumatic event resulting in death or near death.<br/>From what he knows, Stiles has gone through three of those.</p>
            </blockquote>





	#1: Never Give Up

**Author's Note:**

> Or basically until Melissa pulled out Claudia's file, I thought Stiles was suffering from major PTSD and wasnt reacting well with his medication due to hormones released when dealing with PTSD and it all kind of made sense at the time.

He knows a lot about different disorders. He took psychology because he had suffered from two common ones himself. After moving from his hometown, he had headed to New York to get away and major in Psychology. Someday, he wanted to help others like him; people with PTSD and Depression. He never finished his years, but he remembers enough about each.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can result from any of the following: Kidnapping/Torture, Car Accident/Plane Crash, Military Combat, Rape/Sexual Abuse, Natural Disasters, or even worry over a friend who has experienced a traumatic event resulting in death or near death.

From what he knows, Stiles has gone through three of those.  
When Stiles was young, he lost his mom; he was with her and he was the one to watch her die. He could relate to Stiles because he'd also lost his mother and other family too. He had also been left with one person in his life left, the only difference being that he'd lost his one person and Stiles lived with the constant fear that he would lose his.  
He doesn't know much about Stiles' life growing up, but he knows about everything that's happened since werewolves entered the picture. Looking back, he knows that he never helped Stiles' situation; slamming him into things and threatening his life. All Stiles had ever done was help him.

 

The first time Stiles was kidnapped (yes, he was technically kidnapped because he was unwilling to leave and forced to) was during his Winter Formal. Within minutes, he'd watched Lydia, whom at the time was the love of his life, be attacked and forced to help Peter. The whole time he wondered if the bite would take or if she'd die (because how we're they supposed to know she was a Banshee?).

To this day, he's still not sure if Scott knows as much as he does. He's had everyone to tell him these stories, but not once had Scott spoken with him.  
Oh, not to mention that at the end of that day, it wasn't really Scott that helped him, it'd been Stiles. If Stiles had never come in with the Molotov Cocktails, he wouldn't have been able to kill Peter.

Killing Peter had never actually hurt Derek. He'd been so used to the idea of his uncle being gone that- even in his insane rampage- he'd never seen him as family again.  
That night, Derek would be lying if he said he didn't sneak into the Stilinski household to make sure Stiles was okay. After that is when he started noticing the symptoms.  
Derek swears to himself that it was all without meaning to, but maybe he had meant to watch over Stiles. At the time, Stiles was just a way of getting information and help, now he'd become an ally; a friend.

The first symptom was insomnia. Scott never noticed because Stiles would always play off his mood or physical being as a result of too little or too much Adderall.  
Throughout the rest of that year, Derek notices more: constant fear and panic, sleeping problems (hence the insomnia), and cold sweats in dire situations. Stiles had a severe case of Anxiety.

After the police station incident, Derek was surprised that Stiles didn't mentally break. He'd faced a gun to his head, seeing police that he knew his entire life dead, and watching his dad get knocked out while he lay paralyzed and helpless.

It isn't until Boyd talks to him one day, about the night that he and Erica were taken by Allison and her dad, that he finds out Stiles had been kidnapped after the lacrosse game by Gerard. Stiles had been tossed into the basement and tried to help them. When he couldn't, he'd been beaten by Gerard, and then left to find his way home after it all (only to come in at the perfect timing and bring Lydia to rescue Jackson).

On the first day on Scott and Stiles' junior year, Scott asks him to help him with a tattoo, to symbolize his open wound from Allison.  
 _Idiot._

Derek never tells Scott how stupid it sounds (or that his best friend has had an open wound for years). Instead, he lets the fire take on Scott's skin and burn him. He feels bad for burning him after, even if it’s what he wanted.

Soon Derek starts noticing the depression. Depression could be caused by many things, one being an accumulation of other disorders.  
Throughout the couple of months that follow, Stiles' snarky comments slowly dissipate. Smiles are no longer formed; rather they are put on his face, and look wrong. Derek doesn't know why Scott doesn't notice.

The first person to be sacrificed was Stiles' friend of fourteen years, Heather. Later, a deputy that used to tutor him on late nights that his dad had to work at the station, when he was too young to say home alone, is sacrificed as a Philosopher.

One day that Derek regrets the most is the day that he stumbles upon Jennifer, bleeding out and dying. He hadn't meant to, but it'd been the first recognizable scent. For those surrounding twenty-four hours, Stiles, Scott, Isaac, and Boyd though that he was dead. They weren't close, but he and Stiles had saved each other enough times to be sad if the other dies. While he rolls in bed with the killer, Stiles sees her wrath.

That night, Stiles saves Ethan, Boyd, and Scott from committing suicide (because luckily, Isaac had just hidden from the world). Twice he almost dies doing so; almost falling on an electric saw, and then stepping into a puddle of gasoline to stop Scott. Derek only knows of the second because Scott had told him, though it'd all been a fuzzy memory to him.

Derek wonders how much Stiles lost of himself that day.  
He wonders how Stiles found it in his tired soul to be there for him when he's been forced to kill Boyd. It was a small gesture, but the touch was something he needed. For the longest time, Derek had only been used to harmful contact. The hand in his shoulder gave him reassurance that he wasn't alone, someone to lean on; the gesture told him that it was okay to not be okay.

Derek had fallen into a small pit of depression after that, taking a few days to drive out of town. When he comes back, he goes to Jennifer. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._

After Stiles, Scott, and Allison sacrifice themselves, things go crazy. While he and Scott deal with the Darach and Deucalion, Isaac and Allison attempt to save Chris, Sheriff, and Melissa, and Stiles crashes his Jeep.

Again, Stiles is the one to show up and save the day.

_Symptoms of PTSD vary with each individual. Common symptoms are: Irritability, emotional numbness, loss of interest, aggressiveness/violence, alertness, distressing flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, inspired concentration, and increased startled reactions._

Derek notices 7/9 of those before he officially leaves town. He also notices the panic attacks increasing and the Adderall not working. He would guess that the panic attacks are a side effect (because smart Derek knows that a side effect of the medication could be psychological things like anxiety), but if the medication isn't working, he can guess it’s another PTSD thing mixing with his Depression. And not to mention, PTSD causes the brain to release a hormone called norepinephrine, which causes extreme memory enhancement (which could explain the nightmares).

Although Stiles is smart, he probably doesn't realize he suffers from these three disorders.

For awhile, Derek contemplates going back. If not or Stiles, then for his home; Beacon Hills is Hale Territory, which he's meant to protect.

A month after leaving, Derek returns, for both reasons. He talks to Stiles and offers to help him (low key so he doesn't have to worry his dad) and they start with steps.  
 _#1: Never Give Up_

**Author's Note:**

> Please notify me if you think I should add any additional tags :)


End file.
